Edge control device for fabric dye kettles and the like



Aug. 29, 1961 w. K. CUTTEN ETAL 2,997,871

EDGE CONTROL DEVICE FOR FABRIC DYE KETTLES AND THE LIKE Filed Dec. 29,1959 a Sheets-Sheet 1 m4; BY 6%! MW ATTY.

64 5 g fig 5 E 4 1 q /5 i i I l l I l I l I I 7 g i 55 I i u= l 1 L J ll i i l a i I 55 INVENTORS WILLIAM K. CUTTEN JOHN McNUTT Aug. 29, 1961w. K. CUTTEN ETAL 2,997,871

EDGE CONTROL DEVICE FOR FABRIC DYE KETTLES AND THE LIKE Filed Dec. 29,1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORSZ WILLIAM K. CUTTEN 1.: 1111 mm M &

IHTIIIIIIII] JOHN MCNUTT ATTY.

1961 w. K. CUTTEN ETAL 2,997,871

EDGE CONTROL DEVICE FOR FABRIC DYE KETTLES AND THE LIKE Filed Dec. 29,1959 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTORS: WILLIAM K. CUTTEN JOHN McNUTT BY 59%41W ATTY.

Un ted States Patent 2,997,871 7 EDGE CONTROL DEVICE FOR FABRIC DYEKETTLES AND THE LIKE William K. Cutten, Allentown, and John 'McNutt,Blue Bell, Pa., assignors to James Lees and Sons Company,

Bridgeport, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed'Dec. 29,1959, Ser.No. 862,579 2 Claims. (Cl. 68--177) This invention relates to textilefabric dyeing apparatus and more particularly to edge control means foruse in an enclosed pile fabric dye kettle.

The problem of properly controlling a length of pile fabric in a dyekettle capable of handling fabric widths up to 18 has presented aconsiderable problem. The piece dyeing of tufted and some woven pilefabrics is done by introducing a roll of the fabric in the greige to thedye kettle. The fabric is then moved over a large drum or roller intoand out of the dye bath. If the dye liquor is not uniformly applied tothe fabric so that even dyeing is achieved from selvage to selvage, anunsaleable piece of merchandise results. It is imperative that thecarpet run true on the cylinder so that it will not run off the cylinderand also so that carpet control for level dyeing is achieved. VariouseXpedients for accomplishing this result have been tried but with onlylimited success because, for one reason, the fabric is completelyenclosed in the dye kettle with its ends stitched together to providean'endless roll. It is, therefore, impossible to control the alignmentor feed of the fabric externally of the kettle.

The present invention has been found to be a very eflicient andeffective solution to the problem and is entirely automatic in itsoperation. The control elements are located externally of-thekettle andguiding is accomplished by elevating one end-of the small roller in thekettle as the need arises.

A primary object of the invention thereforeis to provide means forraising and lowering one end of the small roller in a fabric dye kettle,said means being responsive to a pair of sensing devices in the kettle,thus accurately positioning the fabric over both the small roller andthe large cylinder. 7 p

A further object of the invention is to provide in' a fabric dye kettlea pair of sensing elements defining lateral movement limits for thefabric and means responsive to displacement of said elements for raisingand lowering one end of the forward fabric roller in the kettle.

Further objects will be apparent from the specification and drawings inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a transverse section partly schematic of a dye kettleembodying the present invention,

FIG. 2. is an enlarged sectional detail showing the forward edge controlroller as seen at 22r of FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a view as seen at 33 of FIG. 2,

FIG. 4 is a detail as seen at 4-4 of FIG. 2,

FIG. 5 is a section as seen at 5-5 of FIG. 1,

FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional detail of one of the sensing elements,

FIG. 7 is a control diagram showing the front roller elevating mechanismand the circuits therefor, and

FIG. 8 is a wiring diagram for the complete system.

The invention comprises essentially the provision of a fluid cylinderconnected to one end of the front roller in a fabric dye kettle, a fluidvalve connected to either end of the cylinder for raising and lowering apiston in the cylinder, and electrical connections between a pair ofsensing elements in the kettle and the fluid valve which operate tocontrol the movement of the piston in the cylinder and consequently oneend of the front roller in accordance with displacement of the sensingelements.

A conventional carpet dye kettle comprises a housing 2,997,871 PatentedAug. 29, 1961 '15 which contains a dye bath or liquor 16. The kettle isprovided with a front door or closure 17 which can be elevated to permitaccess to the interior of the kettle. A large fabric cylinder or drum 18is journaled near the back of the kettle and a smaller or front roller19 is journaled near the front of the kettle adjacent the closure 17.The fabric F to be dyed is trained over both roller 19 and drum 18 andcollects in aseries of folds 20 on the bottom of the kettle. It will beunderstood that the fabric F is in the form of an endless web which isconstantly moved through the dye bath 16 by means of the driven roller19 and cylinder -18.

With particular reference to FIGURE 2, the front roller 19 is providedwith opposite helical surfaces 20 and 21 which tend to stretch thefabric laterally and thus avoid wrinkles or overlapping. However, unlessthe carpet remains accurately centered on roller 19, it will be apparentthat a larger area will be contacted by one of the helices 20 or 21which immediately moves the fabric laterally to an extreme position inwhich wrinkles occur or it will run oif of either or both the roller 19and drum 18. In order to maintain the fabric F in a central position asshown in FIG. 2, we journal one end of the roller 19 in a self-aligningballbearing assembly 25 having an inner-race 26 and a concave outer-race27. The bearing 25 is supported in a bracket 28 which is in turnpositioned on frame structure 29 secured to a side of the dye kettle.Roller 119' is turned through its shaft 30 to which a sprocket 31 ispinned or keyed. A suitable driving chain 32 connected to a drivingsprocket, not shown, provides the rotational movement for the roller 19.The other end of the roller is also journaled in a similar self-aligningbearing assembly 35- which, however, is supported in a plate 36vertically slideable in ways 37 and 38 secured to angle members 39 and40 mounted on bracket structure 41. Sliding movement of plate 36 in ways37 and 38 is controlled through a bracket welded to plate 36 having anear 46 on its underside which is pivoted to a clevis 47 on piston rod 48of fluid cylinder 49. Actuation of the piston rod 48 tends to elevateone end of roller 19" to an upper limit position shown in broken linesat 50* and opposite movement of piston rod 48 lowers oneend of roller'19 to the broken line position shown at 51. In this way the lateralpositioning of the fabric F on the roller 19 can be precisely controlledand this positioning in turn results in proper alignment of the fabricon cylinder 18.

At a point approximately midway between roller 19 and cylinder 18, wesuspend a pair of sensing or edge contact elements and 56, one on eitherside of the fabric F. The edge contact element 55 is in turn suspendedfrom a trapeze 57 (FIG. 5) and adjustably supported thereon by means ofa wing nut 58. Trapeze 57 is in turn supported at the bottom ofdisplaceable rods 59 and 59a which actuate a small microswitch 60 shownclearly in FIG. 6. Flexing movement of the rod 59 in housing 61 opens orcloses the contacts of switch 60 by means of an adjustable stop 62secured in a boss at the side of housing 61 and retained in a desiredadjusted position by means of a lock nut 63. The electrical leads 64from switch 60 are carried upwardly and emerge from the top portion ofthe bar 59 as shown in FIG. 5. The sensing assembly at the righthandside of the dye kettle is an allochiral representation of the structureshown in FIG. 5 and the description thereof is not repeated in theinterests of brevity.

Referring to FIGURES 7 and 8, the cylinder 49 contains a piston which isbiased to a center position by means of compression springs 71 and 72 incylinder 49. The upper part of cylinder 49 communicates with a solenoidcontrol valve assembly 73 by means of conduit 74 in which a meteringvalve 75 is located. The lower portion of cylinder 49 is also connectedto control cylinder 73 by means of a conduit 76 having a metering valve77. Solenoids 78 and 79 are positioned to control the flow of fluidthrough valve 73 which is shown in normal at-rest position.

Referring now to FIGURE 8, when switch 60 is closed due to lateraltravel of the fabric across roller 19, the armature 85 of relay 86 isenergized through contacts 87, 88, and rods 89, 90. This in turn closescontacts 93 and 94 as well as contacts 95 and 96. Closing of contacts 93and 94 energizes solenoid 79 through leads 97, 98, 99, and 100. This inturn actuates the fluid valve 73 to move piston 70 in cylinder 49.Energization of armature 85 also closes contacts 95 and 96 to complete acircuit through armature 105 of relay 6 through leads 107, 108, and 98.Actuation of relay 106 opens the circuit through contacts 87 and 88 tode-energize armature 85, thus eventually de-energizing solenoid 79.There is a predetermined time delay in this deenergization due to thesliding of the contact bar 109 on contacts 93 and 94. If the fabriccontinues to run to the left so that switch 60 remains closed, then theabove sequence is repeated subject to a time delay interval controlledby dashpot 110. In this way the energization of solenoid 79 is repeatedintermittently as long as switch 60 is closed. As soon as the fabric hasbeen conveyed sutficiently to the right, switch 60 is opened so thatclosing of contacts 87 and 88 will no longer energize armature 85.

The identical circuits and relays are incorporated for the control ofthe righthand solenoid 78 by means of the righthand switch 114.Repetition of this circuit and its description is omitted in theinterest of brevity since it is the same as previously described inconjunction with solenoid 79 sufiicient to say, however, that theclosing of switch 114 by feeler 56 permits the intermittent energizationof solenoid 78 through leads 115 and 116 shown connected to the relayassembly 1 17.

Referring to FIGURE 7, it will be understood that the pressure fluidline '118'is shown in the neutral position as well as the relief fluidline 119. Upon energization of solenoid 79, pressure line 118 isconnected to line 74 and relief line 119 is connected to 76. Thisintroduces pressure to the upper part of cylinder 49 and lowers pistonrod 48. The fabric then tends to slide downwardly away from its contactwith feeler 55. When switch 114 is closed through contact with feeler56, pressure line 118 is connected to line 76 and relief 119 isacteristics are achieved.

Having thus described our invention, we claim:

1. In liquid treating apparatus for textile fabrics the combination ofan enclosed chamber, a closure for said chamber, a liquid reservoir atthe bottom of the chamber, side walls for the chamber, a drum rotatablymounted in the chamber, a roller in the chamber, a shaft for said rollerextending through each of said side walls, a selfaligning bearingmounted outside one of said side walls and in which said shaft isjournaled, driving connections for said shaft at one end thereof, avertically slideable bracket mounted outside the other of said sidewalls, a self-aligning bearing mounted on said bracket and in which theopposite end of the shaft is journaled, a fluid cylinder adjacent saidslideable bracket, a piston in said fluid cylinder, a piston rodconnecting the piston and the bracket whereby movement of the piston inthe cylinder raises and lowers one end of the shaft above and below ahorizontal position, a sensing element in the chamber positioned betweenthe drum and the roller and near each side of the chamber, a fluid valvefor introducing fluid to each end of the cylinder, a pair of solenoidsfor operating said fluid valve, and electrical connections between thesensing elements and each of the solenoids whereby the movable end ofthe roller is lowered when the sensing element opposite the fixed end ofthe roller is contacted and the same end of the roller is elevated whenthe sensing element adjacent the movable end of the roller is contacted.

2. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1 in which the electricalconnections for each sensing element include a pair of time controlrelays.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,133,823 McClellan Oct. 18, 1938 2,513,927 Farrington July 4, 19502,709,588 Staege May 31, 1955 2,806,694 Penman Sept. 17, 1957

